17. Abby
Abby
“I got everything ordered, and I’m going to go grab the food after I go change at home. I’ll be back in about two hours. That should give you some time with them. You good here until I get back?” Clay asks as he’s about to leave.
“Yeah, don’t worry about me,” I yell back as I get a water from the fridge. “Their flight is about to land, so the timing should be perfect.”
I round the corner as I untwist the lid of the water bottle. “I’ll tell them the news, and hopefully, they’ll be too happy to focus on anything but the good news. You’ll arrive right after I tell them they’ll be grandparents. It should be fine. I’m nervous, but I think I would be no matter what.”
Luckily, I just look like I’ve eaten a massive burrito for lunch and not that I’m pregnant, so I’m still good with some oversized clothes to mask the pregnancy from them on this visit.
“Well, call or text me if anything changes.” He gives me a hug and then a quick kiss on the lips. We both freeze and stare at one another.
“What was that?” I ask him, frozen in place.
“I think it’s just a habit. I’m sorry,” he says, although he’s still standing mere inches away from me.
His eyes look down at my lips, and I swear he’s about to kiss me again, and I won’t deny I want him to. I’m horny as hell with these damn hormones running amuck through my body. I’m leaning closer to him, giving him permission to take another taste of me, when his phone pings and breaks the spell.
He curses a small “Fuck” under his breath and pulls away. The moment is lost.
“I should go,” he whispers and is out the door before I can say a word in protest.
I stand staring at the door Clay just walked through, wondering what to do with my feelings a little longer, then snap myself out of it.
Clay was kind enough to come over early this morning to help get the place ready for my parents to visit. I had offered for my mom and dad to stay here for their visit, but they insisted on staying at a hotel nearby.
I still wanted to make sure everything looked nice for them, so he helped me get some flowers and get the area tidied up before they came for lunch. They offered to go to lunch, but I thought something at the apartment would be nice and make it easier to relax and talk to them in private.
While I’m going through the apartment to ensure everything is set, I decide to call Marissa real quick.
“Hey. Did Mommy Collette arrive safely?” she starts off the greeting.
“She isn’t here yet.”
“Oh, I can’t wait to hear how it goes. You have got to give me the play-by-play. Make sure to protect Clay for me. His face is too pretty to let her vicious claws get to him.” She chuckles into my ear.
“Play nice, Marissa,” I say, rolling my eyes.
“Your mom has got it out for him, although I have no idea why. He’s always been so nice to her.”
“I know. She’s always played favorites, with River being the contender between the two.”
“I know. I could tell.” Marissa laughs. Each time Marissa was around, she would sit back and watch it all play out, entertained by the way my mother doted on River and ignored my ex-husband. It was quite fascinating, although infuriating.
I’m walking through when there’s a knock on the door.
“Marissa, hold on, I think Clay may have forgotten something,” I tell her.
“Oh, I bet he forgot something, alright.” She laughs in my ear.
“You’re ridiculously dirty, you know—” I swing the door open and hear, “Surprise!”
“Marissa, let me call you back,” I say and immediately hang up without letting her respond.
And a surprise it is. My parents greet me from the other side of the threshold, arms out wide, ready for a hug. My mom is the first one to pull me in. She squeezes me tight, and I swear all the air in my lungs is pushed out of me.
My dad follows with another hug, this time not as strong as my mother’s. I’m still shocked to see them standing there, especially since they aren’t supposed to be here for at least another hour or so.
“What are you doing here? Your flight just landed? Or am I following the wrong flight information?” I scroll through my phone to open the app and see their flight landed two minutes ago.
“We caught an earlier flight so here we are!” my mom says and does jazz hands as if she’s popping out of a box or something.
“Wow, what a nice surprise,” I respond. My nerves are multiplied because I had everything timed out as I was going to tell them I was pregnant, then Clay would show up shortly after. I sort of needed a little safety net per se. Now I have a lot of time from now until he gets here. Shit.
I’m not great at fibbing. They’ll sniff out there’s something more to my reason for asking them out here.
I remember in high school, I attempted to lie when I’d go out with friends when I told them I was studying, and it was always a disaster.
I once concocted such an elaborate lie that started with studying at my friend's house and ended with us at the circus.
I was grounded for three weeks for that whopper.
“Are you going to let us in? We want to see this place,” my mother says.
“Of course. Sorry, where are my manners?” I say, my nerves getting the better of me already.
I motion them inside, and they walk through the foyer and into the apartment.
I notice they don’t have their bags. “Where is your luggage?”
“Oh, we already checked into the hotel and got our stuff in our room. We arrived hours ago and already showered. I had to freshen up,” my mother says as she takes the place in.
“Wow. Did you take a red-eye or something?” Because that’s quite an early flight in.
“Yes. We thought it would be easier for us to settle with the jet lag and all,” my mom replies as she takes in the surroundings, stopping at the window to take in the view.
“This view is incredible. The pictures don’t do it justice.” I can’t argue with her there.
“I know. I could stand here for hours,” I tell her as I walk up to the window right by her side.
I can tell she’s looking at me, not at the view.
“Sweetheart, what’s going on? We know something is bothering you.
I told your father we had to get over here quickly because our girl needed us.
We are here for you. Do you need to come home?
We can help you get home, sweetie,” she says, rubbing my back.
“If you’re second-guessing your decision, there is no shame in that.
We can pack things up, no questions asked. ”
“Collette, don’t smother the girl. She is doing fine. I told you she’s fine. Look at her. She’s glowing. She seems to be managing well on her own,” my dad says while standing on my mother’s other side.
Yes, Dad, I’m glowing because I’m growing a human. Obviously, I don’t say that out loud, but I sure think it.
“Well, yes, Daddy’s right. I am doing well, but there is something I wanted to talk to you about,” I tell them.
“Is it the business, Abby?” She swings her gaze toward my father. “Rick, I told you I thought something was going on with her company.” My mom’s concern is etched all over her face. I hold back the urge to roll my eyes because my mom can be quite dramatic.
“No, it has nothing to do with the company,” I say.
“What is it, honey? Don’t worry, we’re here to help, whatever it is.” My mother grabs my hands, and I can feel her slight tremble. She’s so nervous, and I feel bad she’s so concerned. I decide to rip the Band-Aid off.
“I’m, um, pregnant.” I give them a tentative smile like I’m a teenager and sort of feel like one at the moment.
They both look at me with bewildered expressions, and silence stretches for minutes that feel like hours.
Eventually, they speak at the exact same time.
“I’m sorry, what?” That comes from my mother, while my father asks, “Who’s the father?”
“Clay’s the father, and I’m pregnant.” I shrug my shoulders.
Again, they both stare at me. Because nothing is quite going the way I planned, another knock sounds at my door. Who the hell is it now?
I leave my two shell-shocked parents standing near the window and walk to the front door.
I look through the peephole and find two of the last people I expect to see waiting on the other side. I swing the door open, somewhat relieved to see their smiling faces.
“Hey, so sorry to bother you while you’re probably running around preparing for your parents to arrive, but he forgot his house keys somewhere, so I thought I’d grab them.
He got all the way home and noticed they weren’t in his pocket.
I was nearby, so I told him I’d grab them.
” He swings his gaze up and sees my parents standing behind me.
“Oh, hey, Mr. and Mrs. Morris.” River waves while Kennedy smiles by his side.
“You son-of-a-bitch!” my father declares and starts storming over to the door.
River’s confused expression takes over his features as he watches my father coming toward him. “I’m sorry, what?”
“You have some nerve coming over here after you knocked up my daughter, especially with your new girlfriend in hand.” My father starts yelling, face red, finger pointing in River’s direction.
“Daddy, no, no! This is River, not Clay! Stop!” I hold my arm out to keep him from doing anything stupid.
My father has a heart of gold, but he has a shit time telling twins apart.
Even after all these years, he still can’t tell River and Clay apart.
I get that they are quite similar, but most people can see their minor differences once you spend enough time with them. My father is not one of those people.
For years, he would speak to Clay and call him River and vice versa.
There were multiple times when one would sit for entire conversations and pretend to be the other to simply keep from offending him.
I would blame old age, but my mother said my father had neighbors growing up, and he never could tell them apart, and they lived next door for twelve years.
It was a story my grammy told many times, crying with laughter because it never got old. He’s a lost cause.